2016 Ford Explorer: The Most Common Complaints You Should Know About

Sometimes Ford really hits a home run, other times, Ford just strikes out. The 2016 Ford Explorer is an example of where Ford just failed to make a good car. Here are the most common complaints that owners of the 2016 Ford Explorer had about it, according to Car Complaints.

The 2016 Ford Explorer | David McNew/Getty Images

Interior problems

The interior of this Ford Explorer was the third most problematic category for the SUV, according to Car Complaints. The most common problem with the interior had to do with the seats.

In particular, the third-row seats were a common problem area that many owners had with the Explorer. What’s more unfortunate, however, is the fact that Car Complaints says that the Explorer’s seats were to blame for at least three injuries.

Another common complaint had to do with the Explorer’s dashboard display. For some reason, the dashboard would simply go blank for some owners. This issue happened to relatively new Explorers, but it isn’t an extremely serious issue.

Likewise, many more owners experienced a similar issue with their radios. For some reason, the radio on a new Explorer sometimes wouldn’t turn on. But again, this wasn’t an extremely serious issue.

Steering problems

The second most problematic category for the Explorer had to do with its steering. This was an extremely common complaint, and hundreds of Explorer owners reported it happening to Car Complaints. Most of these complaints had to do with the power steering feature of the Explorer, and sometimes, it simply wouldn’t work.

Unfortunately, this was a severe issue. Car Complaints reported at least four crashes due to this steering issue with the Explorer. At least two people were injured by this steering problem, according to Car Complaints.

On top of that, Car Complaints says that the average cost to fix this issue was about $2,100. Notably, the average mileage of the Explorer in these cases was about 40,000 miles.

That said, despite these numerous and well-documented problems with the Explorer’s steering, no recall has been issued for the 2016 Explorer over its steering problems.

Regardless, many users on Car Complaints continue to file complaints about the Explorer’s steering problems, and hopefully, these issues will not lead to any more accidents or injuries.

Engine problems: the most common complaint about the 2016 Ford Explorer

The most problematic category for the Explorer had to do with its engine. Car Complaints mentioned several different issues in relation to the Explorer’s engine, and each one was relatively similar.

The most common engine problems with the Explorer was that the engine would simply stall or die at times. This primarily happened to relatively new Explorers that had only about 10,000 miles on them. Sometimes it would start with the wrench light turning on suddenly and then leading to the Explorer stalling.

This is obviously a severe issue, as some users on Car Complaints reported that this problem happened to them on a highway. Indeed, according to Car Complaints, at least one crash and one fire were caused by the engine problems of the Explorer, and at least seven people have been injured due to this issue.

Similar to the Explorer’s steering problems, no recalls have been issued for the 2016 Explorer over these engine problems. It’s also not known what Ford is planning to do to fix these problems, if Ford is planning on doing anything at all. Again, hopefully, these problems are resolved before more people are injured by them.

The 2016 model year of the Explorer is somewhat unique like that. Compared to other model years, such as the 2017 or 2015 Explorers, the 2016 Explorer is especially problematic. In fact, it has so many problems that Car Complaints gave it a “Beware of the Clunker” award.